jump city high
by breakages
Summary: Adolescence doesn't make sense. But remember, you're in high school. [AU]
1. Chapter 1

_Welcome to my high school!AU of Teen Titans! Here is where I take out my guilty pleasure for cheesy high school clichés on my favourite characters to ever exist. I hope you enjoy going on this journey with me and I make a promise (that I will hopefully keep) and update every week._

_**Grade 12s (Seniors)**__ - Victor Stone (Cyborg), Karen Beecher (Bumblebee), Koma Anders (Blackfire), Leonid Kovar (Red Star), John Gnaark (Gnaark), Malcom Duncan (Herald), Ryuku Orsono (Bushido), Baran Flinders (Mammoth), Rosabelle Melendez (Pantha)_

_**Grade 11s (Juniors)**__- Dick Grayson (Robin), Kory Anders (Starfire), Rachel Roth (Raven), Roy Harper (Speedy), Wally West (Kid Flash), Jason Todd (Red X), Garth Curry (Aqualad), Jeni Luck (Jinx), Isaiah Crockett (Hot Spot), Donna Troy (Wonder Girl), Katherine Van Cleer (Kitten), Seymour Richardson (See-More)_

_**Grade 10s (Sophomores)**__- Garfield Logan (Beast Boy) Tara Markov (Terra), Kole Weathers (Kole), Toni Monetti (Argent), Joseph Wilson (Jericho)_

* * *

First Period  
English 11

"Good morning, Jump City High! I'm your senior president, Karen Beecher and today is Monday, October 28th, Day 2." Karen's face popped on the TV screen in the corner of a junior English class. "Before starting off today's announcements, congratulations to our very own Jade Nguyen for coming in first in the Martial Arts Provincials and Dick Grayson for coming in second! We wish both of you luck in Nationals!"

"Beaten by Jade Nguyen," Jason Todd sniggered. "Good job, Dick."

"Shut up, Jason. We weren't versing against each other."

"Moving straight to announcements, seniors, your grad transitions are to be completed and handed in to Ms. Mae-Eye's room by Friday at the latest. Remember that these are mandatory. Newspaper Club has a meeting today at lunch in Ms. Zhang's room. Arts Council is holding a meeting today as well in Ms. Mathers' room until 3:30." Karen smiled at the camera, causing a few of the boys upfront to sigh.

"Student Council has a meeting tomorrow afterschool starting at 4:00 until 7:00, posters are being put up around school for Club Day."

Rachel Roth sighed. She didn't need reminding that you needed eighty service hours to graduate.

"And finally, don't forget we're having out first ever dance of the year this Thursday on Halloween night! Remember to wear a costume. It will be held in the large gym and tickets are being sold in the atrium this lunch! They're only $7.00."

Jason snorted.

"You won't be seeing me at that lame ass dance," he muttered to Dick.

Karen looked at the paper in the hands and coughed, containing a laugh.

"Uhm, Principal Wilson would just like me to remind the students to wear _appropriate_ attire for the dance. That means you, freshmen," Karen grinned. "And that's all the announcements for today. Have a nice day!" With a blip, her face disappeared into a screen of black.

"Okay, class," Mr. Williams began in his painstakingly monotone voice. "Following our completion of _Animal Farm_, we'll be beginning a brand new novel today, _1984_ by George Orwell. Has anyone heard of this modern classic before?"

Rachel put her hand up, grinning slightly. Finally, an interesting novel.

"Rachel. Not a surprise. Do you mind giving a brief description of the novel?" Mr. Williams asked her, his empty eyes meeting hers.

_Public speaking. Great._

"Well, it takes place in a dystopian future where the country is at war-"

Roy Harper loudly snored behind her. The class laughed.

"Mr. Harper. Principal Wilson's office. Now." Mr. Williams retorted. "Maybe if we're lucky, he'll suspend you from Archery club and you can spend more time in your classes. Actually learning, this time around."

Roy shot Mr. Williams a glare and left the classroom whistling to himself, not failing to flip him the finger when the door closed.

"Now, where was I? Ah, yes. Rita. Continue."

"Mr. Williams, you've had me since freshman year, my name's Rac-"

There was a sudden knock on the door.

"Roy Harper, if you think you can waltz right in here all over again, you have another thing coming!"

The door opened to reveal a much older boy around twenty-something, with blonde hair that was nearly white. He wore a suit that looked like it was ironed on him. He had a laptop bag around his shoulder and a Starbucks coffee in the other hand.

"I'm so sorry I'm late! Traffic was hell. I'm Rory, I'm here for the T.A. job."

"Of course, of course!" Mr. Williams leapt up from the projector that he was leaning on. "Class, this is your new teacher's assistant, Rory Nol from Gotham University. He'll be here to assist, well obviously, me and you as well. Please welcome him graciously in our wonderful space of knowledge."

Jason gagged. Mr. Williams shot him a look.

Rory gave a subtle wave and grinned. His eyes met Rachel's, causing an unfamiliar piercing feeling in her stomach. She looked down at her copy of _1984 _and smiled to herself. Maybe English class wouldn't be so bad.

* * *

Early Morning  
Varsity track team try-outs

_Deep breaths. Counts of seven._

Tara Markov tightens the laces on her red Nike runners. She finds her mark, takes a swig of Gatorade and places it on the charcoal track. She ties her golden hair in a ponytail, stretching her calfs while she's at it.

"Yeah, Tara!" she hears screams from the stands, only to find Kole Weathers, Toni Monetti, and Joseph Wilson clapping wildly. She waves at them and blows an over-dramatic kiss.

"Nice fangirls," Wally West commented, coming out of nowhere and giving her crooked smirk.

"They're my friends," Tara replied shortly. "I don't see any of yours cheering you on."

"That's because I actually have cheerleaders," he waves at a group of freshmen on the sidelines, who start screaming shrilly.

"Jesus."

"Yeah, I guess you could say he's cheering for me too."

She rolled her eyes. It was honestly just a try-out for a place on the Varsity track team. She knew she had reserved herself a spot last year when Coach Oatway was so impressed with her that she allowed freshmen like Más and Menos to try out as well.

"Well, Tara, let the best man win," said Wally. "Me, Más, or Menos. But realistically, me."

She ignored him. Tara hears nothing except Coach Oatway blowing her whistle, causing the crowd to erupt in cheer. And then she feels the weight coming back just behind her knees, then down to her feet, and then into the earth and she is off and weightless again, flying past the other runners, her arms pumping up and down and the whole world is quiet except for the crunch as she zooms over the gravel in the track.

She glances to her left and there is no one. To her right, a blurred Wally, who's got his chin jutting out as if it would win the race all by itself. She sees a dark-haired boy leaning next to a fence with a wide toothy grin, staring at her as she runs. But the white ribbon is bouncing towards her and she tears past it, racing into the distance till her feet with a mind of their own begin digging up footfalls of dirt and brake her short.

Then all her friends are standing on the side pile with her, banging her on the back and slapping her head with their papers, for she has won again and all the sophomores can stand a little taller for another year.

She comes up to Wally, hand out in handshake. "The best man wins, right?"

He returns the grin. "Nice job, Tara. I'll be seeing you at Track then."

She waves goodbye, returns Kole's hug and laughs at Toni's photos of Tara running with the wind pulling her mouth back and showing her teeth.

"Real attractive, Tara, truly."

She can't help but look for the boy sitting next to the fence, and she sees him. And she smiles. Because he knows that she knows she's good, no doubt about it. He nods to congratulate her and then he smiles. They stand there with this big smile of respect between them. And it's real.

* * *

Lunch

Victor Stone doesn't enjoy U.S. History. Every time Ms. Hawley talks about black slavery, she looks at Victor with a guilty expression.

When the bell rings he rushes out of the room, not bothering to look back at anyone; he shoves past the swarm of students piling out of class and is pulled into the tide of teenagers rushing off to the cafeteria and class.

Victor meets up with Garfield Logan at the cafeteria's entrance and snorts at the sight of his friend picking his nose. Grinning, Victor musses Gar's hair, smug over the many inches of height he has over him, then rushes inside the cafeteria before Gar can kill him.

The table they usually sit at is empty except for Karen. She's slathering ketchup over her hot dog when he takes a seat in front of her, and she looks up with a smile, eyes bright.

"Hey, Victor!" She finishes pouring the ketchup on her hot dog before taking a bite. "Did you have a nice weekend? I didn't see you at Koma's party."

Victor smiles sheepishly, pulling his lunch bag out of his bag and setting on the table. "I didn't go. I had a Metalworking project due last period so I spent all weekend working on it."

"Like a loser," says Roy, coming out of nowhere and sliding into the seat next to Karen. He slings his arm on the back of her chair and smirks at Victor. "It was a great party, robot boy. And you missed it for a pile of blueprints."

"I think it's good that Victor is focused on his studies," Karen says, turning to Roy with a frown. "And didn't I hear you spent half the night puking in the bathroom?"

Roy turns to Karen, grin tight. "I thought we agreed not to talk about that."

"Oh." Karen blinks. "No, we agreed to not talk about you kissing Jade Nguyen."

"_Karen!"_

Victor sets down the sandwich he had been about to bite. Jade's the last person Roy would hook up with; Roy and her always bicker and taunt each other. They hardly agree on anything and the nicest thing he's heard Roy call her is "psychopathic bitch with a knife problem."

"You hooked up with _Jade_?"

Roy shushes him, glances around the cafeteria. Once he's sure no one's heard anything, he turns to look back at Karen, Victor and Gar. "By all means, Victor, yell it to the entire student body. We only made out for like an hour. It hardly even counted, besides, it was a drunken mistake. We all know I have those every once in a while."

Karen snorts. "That's an understatement."

"Shut up." Roy throws a balled paper napkin at her, hitting her straight in her chest, causing Karen to throw a chunk of her hot dog and hit Roy straight in the eye who made a disgusted sound and went to the washroom to clean up.

There's a few minutes of silence between them while they eat. At one point Gar pulls out his bio notebook and starts to go over his notes despite the fact he knows he's going to pass the exam.

"So..." Gar looks up at his friends, gnawing on his lip with sharp teeth. "Did you two see Tara today?"

"She sits next to me in Calculus," Karen takes a swig from her water bottle.

"She's beautiful," Gar mumbles, causing his friends' heads to rise immediately. "I saw her beat Wally at the track race. She's pretty incredible."

"She's new," says Karen. "She was in Murakami, the private school, but transferred here after her mom died."

"Should've stayed there if you ask me," Roy cuts in, coming back from the washroom, his eye slightly red. "Total nut-job."

Karen glares at Roy. "She called you ugly in your second period, Roy. That is not a sign of insanity."

Roy scowls. "That _is_ a sign of insanity."

"I think she was right." Victor smirks when Roy turns to him, a vein visibly twitching above his eyebrow. He almost laughs, but then his gaze flickers to the seat next to him, and his smile drops. "Hey, Karen, where's Garth?"

"He told me he had to speak to someone in his bio class about something." She frowns down at her half-eaten hot dog.

"So, are you guys going to the Halloween dance?" Victor asked. "It seems kind of freshman, but hey."

Roy snorted. "No, everyone in junior year is going to Wally's for an _actual_ party."

"Ugh, I have to go," Karen groaned. "Represent student council and all that jazz."

"You're the one that wanted to be president," Victor replied.

"And you guys are the ones that voted for me," Karen snapped, taking a bite of her hot dog.

"Only because if we didn't, you said you'd put beehives in our lockers."

Karen laughs at the looks on Roy's face, ignores the glare sent her way, and grins at her boys.

* * *

**A/N:** And that's a wrap. If you liked it, please don't forget to review! And I would really appreciate if you didn't favourite the story without reviewing.


	2. Chapter 2

"Koma, arise!" Kory Anders ripped off the covers off of her sister. "We are tardy!"

"Oh, for God's sakes, Kory," Koma Anders let out a muffled grown in her pillow. "Five more minutes."

"It has been two hours!" Kory yelled, applying blush in the hollow of her cheekbone, letting out an exasperated sigh when she realized how uneven it was. "This is why you don't throw a party the day before school!"

Koma groaned. "Yell at me one more time and I'll rip your throat out."

Kory gave her sister one last, pointed look and then took her schoolbag and swung it over her shoulder. Nose in the air, she left her hungover sister on the bed. She ran downstairs, plucked an apple from the fruit bowl and bit into it. Her host family, while very nice, were scared off the first time they tried to wake up Koma for school. Since then, Kory put her faith in her alarm clock.

She twirled her car keys around her finger and jumped into her sister's convertible. Let Koma get a carpool from one of her friends, rather than having her drive hungover.

Going over the speeding limit just a little bit, she pulled into Jump City High's parking lot into the space that was reserved for Koma.

Well, when she says "reserved".

Checking her watch, it was 12:15. Lunch was about to end. She walked into the cafeteria, her eyes searching for Donna Troy. Finding the familiar curly ponytail, she let out a relieved sigh and made her way to her.

"Sweet party, Koma!" a senior she didn't know winked at her.

"You have mistaken me for my sister." Kory replied quietly, but the boy already passed her.

Letting out a quiet sigh, she pulled out the chair across of Donna and sat down.

"Good afternoon, friend," Kory greeted Donna.

"Kory," Donna looked at her with worried eyes. "Why weren't you in English today?"

Kory sighed, "The party that Koma thr-"

The bell rang suddenly, causing Donna to pick up her binder and textbook. "I really wanna hear what happened, Kor, but I have to make it to History and ask Ms. Hawley about my Greek Mythology essay. We'll talk after school, okay?"

Kory barely heard her. She nodded, giving her a small smile and watching her black hair swing side to side as she left. She stayed at the table for a few moments, watching others push in their chairs and grab their bags. She noticed Jade Nguyen smirk wickedly at an angry Roy Harper. She was laughing at whatever he was saying, although he was turning beet red and shaking his head.

On the other side of the cafeteria was Dick Grayson and Wally West, leaned against the wall. Katherine Van Cleer was practically throwing herself at Dick. If he was reciprocating any feelings at all, Kory couldn't tell. Dick always wore black shades, and the teachers had gotten so used to it that no one asks him to take them off anymore.

Katherine blew him a kiss, causing Wally to gag over dramatically, and the three of them went in their separate ways. Kory checked her watch and gasped. She was late, again, for physical education.

Running to the large gym, she smiled nervously at Coach Oatway and entered the changing room. She wasn't very close to many girls in the class, (there were so few) but being an international student, she had to take physical education to fill in some credits.

She unlocked her gym locker, and pulled out her bag. Kory had no trouble stripping down completely into a brand-new sports bra.

"Jesus Ch-" Katherine started, zipping up her pink hoodie. "She's at it again."

Kory rotated and looked at her with innocent green eyes. Katherine winced and looked down, turning red.

"Oh, don't be such a prude, Katherine," Karen started, tightening the laces on her yellow Nike runners. "It's her body."

Katherine rolled her eyes. "And I don't want to see it."

"Yeah, well, none of us want to see your face and yet you don't see us complaining." Rosabelle Melendez shot back hotly. Karen whooped and high-fived her. Kory smiled at them gratefully.

Katherine huffed and grabbed her water bottle, swinging the door behind her.

"Come on, Kory," Karen warned her, quickly checking her reflection in the mirror. "Coach Oatway is gonna make us run extra laps if we don't hurry up."

"I shall be there immediately!" replied Kory, opening the door for Rosabelle and leaving the change room behind.

* * *

Joseph Wilson regrets a lot of things, and taking band class was one of them.

When the counselor handed back his updated timetable, he repressed a groan. Dance was full, and he didn't want to be stuck doing lights and costumes for his third play in a row. He wanted to sing, he wanted to act, he wanted to dance.

But when he entered the music room, he was glad to see at least one person he knew there; Malcolm Duncan, Karen's boyfriend since freshman year.

Ms. Harlow welcomed Joey with open arms, literally, and walked him to the bass.

"Here you go, Joseph," Ms. Harlow started. "Your father tells me you're very gifted at the guitar. Of course, you can pick any other instrument, _er_, that works just for you."

He let out a soft sigh and took out his paper and pen.

_Mute people can play woodwind instruments._

Ms. Harlow's big blue eyes widened. "Oh, no, no, of course! I knew that, I only meant, since it's your first year in concert band, that you might pick something that you're familiar with."

Joseph nodded, eager to get her to stop talking to him.

"Don't worry, Ms. Harlow, I can show him the ropes." Mal cut in, giving a Jericho a small smile. He put his arm over the blonde boy's shoulder and walked him through the instruments.

"Over there are your flutes, now stay _away_ from them. They can cut you down with a look. They're the overachievers, the ones that took band to fill in more credits and not for the general love of music." Mal instructed, avoiding eye contact with a girl who Joey recognized as one of Jade's friends. She glared at them.

Chuckling nervously, Mal brought him to percussion.

"Now, these are probably the greatest people you will ever meet, besides the brass players," Mal pointed to the back of the music room. "Toni is the lead drummer back there."

She winked at Joseph, tapping her drumsticks. He grinned.

"And yeah," Mal started. "That's all. I think you'll fit in just fine."

Joseph smiled. His father had basically pressured him into taking Band, knowing his gift with acoustic guitar would make it easier for him. As if. He still had to pick an instrument. Most of the percussion were stoners, including Toni, and he didn't have very strong lungs, which basically took him out of the brass section. And he didn't want to sit up front with the woodwinds, where Ms. Harlow would glance at him ever so often.

Sighing, he succumbed to the xylophone, way in the back, where he at least had one friend, but could remain perpetually invisible.


	3. Chapter 3

It's hard to be a cool punk teen rebel when your "parents" let you do anything you want.

Whether it's riding off on strange boys' motorcycles or buying illegal items off the streets, her guardians just don't seem to care. Legally, they're there, but not anywhere near the state of where she lives. Rooming with five other stoners from Jump High, it's not like she was alone. She had Baran, Seymour, Billy, Mikron, and anyone else who needed a place to crash.

So Jeni lives on. She does what Koma Anders tells her to do, and yes, she's part of a drug cartel at sixteen, and yes, she's good at what she does, and yes, she doesn't have plans to stop any time soon. Because the money is good, and she needs to pay rent somehow.

(And maybe there's a pink piggy bank titled "university" under her bed.)

She excels at her classes, because despite her reputation, she's very smart. Specifically in physics and chemistry. There's something about the way things can be so easily changed in physics that attracts her.

And maybe it's because of a jock who sits in the front of the class called Victor. Maybe.

She leaves for school alone (again), because Baran and Billy are sleeping in (again), and Mikron and Seymour annoy her to hell and back. Her phone buzzes in her pocket and she pulls it out to see a text message from Koma.

_im hungover as fuck, _it says._ come pick me up_

She groans. She'll be late for physics, which means Mr. Vince will look her down disappointedly, and she'll miss his powerpoints. Grabbing the keys off the dining table, she finds herself in her empty driveway.

_Mikron and Seymour took the car, _she texts back swiftly. _Sorry._

She leaves the car keys in the house, swings her neon pink bag across her shoulder and begins running.

She arrives out of breath, only five minutes late and gives Mr. Vince a big smile. He says nothing, but points to an empty seat next to Victor. Sliding onto the stool, she takes this opportunity to speak to him.

"So," she begins, her lungs feeling like they're about to collapse. "What did I miss?"

"Just a review on the Density/Mass/Volume Triangle," he replies. "Nothing big. Here, you can take my notes."

Their arms touched. Jeni imploded.

She thanks him, and coughs to cover up how unbelievably high her voice just became.

Their arms are touching all throughout class, and neither one of them move. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees a faint blush creeping up across Victor's mocha coloured skin and she practically passes out.

The bell rings seventy minutes later, and she begins to pack up her things, not very eager to leave.

"Hey, Jeni, listen."

The pinkette turns, her stomach flipflopping around internally. "Yeah?"

"I was just wondering if you wanted to get together some time after school to study for the physics mid-term. At the library, or something."

"Or something?" she laughed. Can he see the nerves behind her eyes?

"Yeah," Victor let out a breath. "Or something."

"Sounds like a date." she replies, calm, cool and collected. She winks, leaving the lab and moving upstairs to go to her locker.

Jeni Luck is happy, even if she lives in a trash-filled apartment with five other guys, and even though if the police ever found out what she was doing she'd be expelled, and even if people try to tear her down because she hangs with stoners, she is still Jeni Luck. She is still the school's best gymnast, an Principal's Honor Roll recipient, and secured at least three scholarships under her belt.

She doesn't need a good reputation.


End file.
